Syrian activists warn of dire conditions in Homs

U.N. observers are seen at the Dama Rose hotel in Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, June 17, 2012. U.N. observers suspended their patrols in Syria due to a recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan was unraveling despite months of diplomatic efforts to prevent the country from plunging into civil war. The observers' decision came after weeks of escalating attacks, including reports of several mass killings that have left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellwai)
— AP

U.N. observers are seen at the Dama Rose hotel in Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, June 17, 2012. U.N. observers suspended their patrols in Syria due to a recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan was unraveling despite months of diplomatic efforts to prevent the country from plunging into civil war. The observers' decision came after weeks of escalating attacks, including reports of several mass killings that have left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellwai)
/ AP

This image made from amateur video released by Ugarit News and accessed Sunday, June 17, 2012, purports to show smoke rising from buildings in Rastan town, in Homs province, Syria. Activists say Syrian troops have intensified their shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs as living conditions there deteriorate further. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL— AP

This image made from amateur video released by Ugarit News and accessed Sunday, June 17, 2012, purports to show smoke rising from buildings in Rastan town, in Homs province, Syria. Activists say Syrian troops have intensified their shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs as living conditions there deteriorate further. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL
/ AP

This image made from amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Sunday, June 17, 2012, purports to show smoke rising from buildings in Homs province, Syria. Activists say Syrian troops have intensified their shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs as living conditions there deteriorate further. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL— AP

This image made from amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Sunday, June 17, 2012, purports to show smoke rising from buildings in Homs province, Syria. Activists say Syrian troops have intensified their shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs as living conditions there deteriorate further. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL
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In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Friday, June 15, 2012, Syrian children hold a poster with Arabic that reads, "give us a childhood give us peace, and that's all," during a demonstration in Idlib, north Syria. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO— AP

In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Friday, June 15, 2012, Syrian children hold a poster with Arabic that reads, "give us a childhood give us peace, and that's all," during a demonstration in Idlib, north Syria. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO
/ AP

In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Saturday, June 16, 2012, Syrians chant slogans and wave revolutionary flags during a demonstration in Damascus, Syria. U.N. observers suspended their patrols in Syria on Saturday due to a recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan was unraveling despite months of diplomatic efforts to prevent the country from plunging into civil war. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO— AP

In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Saturday, June 16, 2012, Syrians chant slogans and wave revolutionary flags during a demonstration in Damascus, Syria. U.N. observers suspended their patrols in Syria on Saturday due to a recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan was unraveling despite months of diplomatic efforts to prevent the country from plunging into civil war. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO
/ AP

In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Saturday, June 16, 2012, Syrians chant slogans during a demonstration in Damascus, Syria. U.N. observers suspended their patrols in Syria on Saturday due to a recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan was unraveling despite months of diplomatic efforts to prevent the country from plunging into civil war. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO— AP

In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Saturday, June 16, 2012, Syrians chant slogans during a demonstration in Damascus, Syria. U.N. observers suspended their patrols in Syria on Saturday due to a recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan was unraveling despite months of diplomatic efforts to prevent the country from plunging into civil war. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO
/ AP

In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Saturday, June 16, 2012, Syrians chant slogans during a demonstration in Kafar Souseh, Damascus, Syria. U.N. observers suspended their patrols in Syria on Saturday due to a recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan was unraveling despite months of diplomatic efforts to prevent the country from plunging into civil war. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO— AP

In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Saturday, June 16, 2012, Syrians chant slogans during a demonstration in Kafar Souseh, Damascus, Syria. U.N. observers suspended their patrols in Syria on Saturday due to a recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan was unraveling despite months of diplomatic efforts to prevent the country from plunging into civil war. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO
/ AP

This image made from amateur video released by Ugarit News and accessed Sunday, June 17, 2012, purports to show a Syrian man standing in smoke from rockets that hit a building in Rastan town, in Homs province, Syria. Activists say Syrian troops have intensified their shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs as living conditions there deteriorate further. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL— AP

This image made from amateur video released by Ugarit News and accessed Sunday, June 17, 2012, purports to show a Syrian man standing in smoke from rockets that hit a building in Rastan town, in Homs province, Syria. Activists say Syrian troops have intensified their shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs as living conditions there deteriorate further. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL
/ AP

BEIRUT 
Syrian troops intensified shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods in Homs Sunday according to activists who said humanitarian conditions in the city are growing dire and pressed for evacuation of 1,000 endangered families and dozens of wounded who cannot get adequate medical care.

Homs has been under siege for more than a week, part of a major escalation of violence around the country that forced the 300-strong U.N. observer force in Syria to call off its patrols.

"The humanitarian situation in Homs is very difficult," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the British-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "It is very clear that the army wants to retake Homs."

The Observatory asked the U.N. on Saturday to intervene in Homs to evacuate hundreds of men, women and children whose lives are in danger. It also said dozens of wounded people in rebel-controlled areas of the central city cannot get medicine or doctors to treat them.

Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the chief of the U.N. observer mission in Syria, said Saturday that intensifying clashes over the past 10 days were "posing significant risks" to the unarmed observers who were spread out across the country, and hampering their efforts. The decision came after weeks of escalating attacks, including reports of several mass killings that left dozens dead.

The observers were the only working part of a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan. The international community saw that plan as its only hope to stop the bloodshed.

It called for the foreign monitors to check compliance with a cease-fire that was supposed to go into effect on April 12, but never took hold. They have become the most independent witnesses to the carnage on both sides as government and rebel forces ignored the truce.

The statement calling off observer patrols reinforced fears that Syria is sliding ever closer to civil war 15 months after the rebellion to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad began. Opposition groups say more than 14,000 civilians and rebels have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011.

The Observatory says more than 3,400 soldiers and militiamen loyal to the government have also been killed.

Regime forces have been waging a fierce offensive through towns and villages nationwide, trying to root out rebels by shelling urban areas with tanks and attacking from helicopters. Rebels also have attacked Syrian forces, mostly trying to burn tanks.

On Sunday, the Observatory said 27 civilians and rebel fighters were killed and more than a dozen soldiers around the country. Another group, the Local Coordination Committee, said over 50 people were killed - the group does not count soldiers' deaths. Both groups said most people were killed in shelling in Homs province and in towns around the capital Damascus.

Amateur footage by a Homs activist showed plumes of smoke wafting over the city with the sound of gunfire and shells slamming into concrete and metal.

In the nearby city of Rastan, amateur video showed the bodies of two brothers struck by a shell. None of the activists' claims could be independently verified because the Syrian government does not allow reporters or rights groups to work independently in the country.